The Council of Look-Alikes: Power Shared by Similarity
Why a Russian owner shares power with people who resemble him rather than with experts, and how a foreign firm should read and sell into such a council.
October 26, 2026 · 9 min read
Blog · Strategy
Strategy
Marketing as a system: positioning, research, channels and the economics of a lead.
Where Before What: Locating a Marketing Problem
Until a problem has an address, nothing can be fixed. Why "Russia isn't working" is not a diagnosis, and how to find where the trouble sits first.
October 26, 2026 · 8 min read
A Boundary Is a Difference, Not a Wall
Why a legal entity, a translated site and a local office do not make a foreign brand local in Russia, and where the real boundary with the buyer runs.
October 24, 2026 · 9 min read
How Much Data Is Enough: Three Rules for Decisions
Sufficiency, coherence and objectivity: three rules that keep research for the Russian market from turning into a report nobody can act on.
October 23, 2026 · 9 min read
Strategy Principles: Why Unanchored Decisions Fall Apart
Why a market-entry strategy for Russia breaks on the first hard question, and how principles hold decisions together when the home playbook stops working.
October 22, 2026 · 9 min read
Four Operating Modes of Any System: Green to Red
A person, a team or a market runs in one of four modes at a time. Why demands aimed at the wrong mode fail, and how to read the mode of your Russian team.
October 19, 2026 · 9 min read
When the Founder Becomes the Bottleneck
Why a Russian company run through one signature stalls at a ceiling, how to spot the crisis of the dominant, and what it means for a foreign firm selling in.
October 14, 2026 · 9 min read
The Manager Who Decides Nothing: the Ecology Metaphor
The ecology metaphor of management: give the resource, draw the field, stay out of the process. Why distance tempts a head office to micromanage Russia.
October 10, 2026 · 8 min read
Growth Before the Org Chart: Expansion Without Structure
Why a growing company has roles before it has a hierarchy, how culture sets at this stage, and what a foreign business in Russia should do about it.
October 9, 2026 · 8 min read
Narrative vs Story: the Blueprint Under the Copy
A story is characters and scenes. A narrative is the function, addressee, channel and voice settled before them. Why brands entering Russia skip it.
October 8, 2026 · 8 min read
Culture Eats Strategy: Style Is a Management Layer
Why a correct strategy quietly drowns in a team's style, how culture forms from the bottom up, and what a foreign company running a Russian team should do.
October 7, 2026 · 9 min read
When the Instruction Stops Working: the Machine View
The organisation-as-machine metaphor: where specification earns its keep, where it fails, and why a foreign company in Russia reaches for it first.
October 6, 2026 · 8 min read
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